Hacker News Reader

Ummm... not really. Pelé has some insane stats. Games played, goals scored, trophies won, including 3(!) World Cups.

Almost nobody puts Pelé lower than 3. And Cruyff had a huge influence but he's usually top 10 or so.

Some would argue pele only played in south america, it's still hard to skip the three world cups though.

But it seems football is getting more difficult and more mechanic over time, that is why I consider messi as a glitch

yes, well you cannot compare players from different times. In his time Pele was the best player in the World. In 1958, he was 17 and was the first black player in the Brazilian national team. There was some heat because of that. He went there and destroyed the prejudice and the adversaries. In the 1970, he wasn't playing anymore, but he did a comeback, getting in shape and winning the World Cup in Mexico with an outstanding performance. Was Maradona the best of his time? I don't agree. He was the best in his prime time, but it was no longer than 4-6 years. In the 80s, 90s we had definitely other players which were as good as him or better (depending on the time period): Socrates, Zico, Lothar Matthaus, Michel Platini, Hugo Sanchez,Ruud Gullit, its a long list. In the 90s even longer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com